Inhumans of Wild Horse Island
by Naasad
Summary: Character drabbles in preparation for a fic that's been in my mind for years - although originally, it was XMEN, not AoS. Rated T for one instance of language in the last chapter. Please Review!
1. His Girl: Cricket

It was amazing how wonderfully brilliant yet truly oblivious Kit could be. Somehow, he never noticed when Cricket was vibrating with fury, and even when she was pressed tight against him - because of course, he could tell she was mad - he blamed the heat of friction on the tropical Hawai'ian weather.

When she passed him on her daily run, and Medusa smelled her, but he could only feel the sudden breeze, she smiled. It was the little things that made her love him, like his wolfish grin and the way he rubbed his shattered wrist when he drove. Like his chivalry and gentle strength. Like his loyalty.

If he knew, she was certain he wouldn't mind.

But then there was Luke. "If any one of you comes near my family, I will kill you myself," she clearly remembered him saying.

So her powers stayed in a different world, and to Kit, she was just Cricket, the food store manager and part-time equine veterinarian. She was just his girl.


	2. Guard Dog: Kimo

He told them he was the Worker Bee. He had no desire to move up the ranks. He was Kimo, always late, but working hard. Just Kimo.

In reality, though, he was their guard dog.

They never noticed his nostrils flaring at a strange scent. They never noticed his irises flashing silver when he sensed a threat. They never noticed the look of pain that sometimes crossed his face at loud noises. They never noticed that when he yelped, it sounded suspiciously like a wolf; or that he could see exceptionally far, as though binoculars were glued to his face.

And that was fine. They were his pack, and he kept them safe, and he didn't care what kind of recognition he got.


	3. Old Soldier: Jonah

Jonah rubbed his broken finger absentmindedly. He had done his part, he often thought. He didn't need these people coming in and using his ranch as a safe haven for the son of a traitor. But then he remembered what they had done for him. His broken mind was healed, and the nightmares were gone, though the scars would always remain.

One time, Cathy caught him shirtless. His wiry frame had been made lean by years of service, and years of working in the hot Hawai'ian sun. It made the scars stand out like pale ropes. He sighed with relief when she didn't ask questions.

Sometimes, there are things you would never burden others with.

One time, when they first approached him, he took out his old uniform and stared at the faded badge with its spread-winged eagle.

He may have done enough, but he knew in his being that he would always do more.


	4. Guilty One: Luke

Luke wiped a hand across his brow as he rode his horse deep into the desert. It was days like these when he needed solitude, craved the silence.

But, no, his thoughts were always with him.

Traitor, they whispered. You ran. You were afraid. You were disloyal.

No, no, he told himself. He didn't run. He didn't betray them to their enemies. He left. He left for his family - to keep them safe - and, usually, seeing the smiling faces of his wife and boys was enough to make him grateful for it.

But not on days like these. On days like these, he was simply haunted.


	5. Mama Bear: Daisy

Daisy was a mama bear. No one would ever deny it, least of all herself. When it came to her people, her inhumans, there was nothing she wouldn't do.

She tried to make Luke stay. She tried to tell him he couldn't go back - after all, he exuded from his very pores the most traceable substance on Earth, not to mention a substance most wanted by dangerous terrorists. But he was stubborn, and he left.

So when she learned his oldest was setting off on his own, far from the safety of his father's training, she made sure he went somewhere safe. She reached out to her old friend Dallas, who she knew could plant the idea of rodeoing in his mind, instead of the lone cross-country lifestyle he was considering.

There, Pani could keep an eye on him. And when Hydra got too close, all it took was a frayed rope caused by his telekinesis. Short-term pain was better than being captured and tortured by terrorists in her mind - she never imagined the damage would be so permanent.

Pani, of course, knew Kimo, they had trained together at the Playground, after all. And Kimo just so happened to be working at the ranch of a famous old soldier Coulson knew well, as he cared for his father, who was growing older by the day.

And on the same island also happened to be Cricket, who never went anywhere without her big brother. She had gotten a part-time position at the feed store, and quickly risen to manager with her superior intellect. And, honestly, Daisy didn't care if she didn't contain her feelings. Cricket was the most on-task agent in her unit, and she made her emotions an asset instead of a hindrance.

It was perfect. She would have preferred to expose him to the Terrigen and train him to defend himself - she knew it wouldn't kill him - but Luke had been all too clear about his thoughts on the matter when he left. Two inhuman bodyguards were the next best thing, even though she hoped he would never know.


	6. Impossible Things: Kit

Sometimes, Kit thought impossible things.

Sometimes, when he was little and his father went missing for months, he thought he was a secret agent. As he grew, he occasionally entertained the same idea when his father went on long, abrupt rides in the Nevada desert.

Sometimes, he thought Kimo might be a werewolf, like when his howl impression was better than the one he had perfected by performing for six younger brothers. Or like when he was pissed and the light simultaneously hit his eyes just right to make them seem silver in color.

Sometimes, he thought Cricket might be able to walk through walls, like when she seemed to appear out of nowhere, but he knew she was just in the other room working. Or like when she was mad, and he would pull her close, and she would press into him, and he could swear she was vibrating. That was how molecules moved, right? The more they vibrated, the farther apart they got, and the more able they were to pass around each other?

Sometimes, he thought Jonah might've been a soldier once, like when he handled Cade's gun like he had used one too much for his liking. Or when there was a strange sound in the dark of the Hawai'ian jungle and he was all of a sudden on alert, his fingertips brushing his thighs like how one might reach for a weapon.

But that was impossible. Jonah had been a rancher his entire life; Luke had been in last minute job training, like he said, and he just needed to cool off sometimes. And it wasn't like werewolves existed or like regular people could walk through walls.

It was impossible. Simply impossible.


End file.
